King Britt

King Britt (born 1968) is an American educator, DJ, composer and record producer from Philadelphia.[1]

King Britt
King Britt by Olinda Del Mar
Background information
Also known asFhloston Paradigm, Sylk130, Scuba, The Nova Dream Sequence
Born1968
OriginPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
GenresElectronica, soul, trip hop, broken beat
Occupation(s)DJ & live producer, studio producer & recorder, Composer, Professor
Years active1988–present
Labels
Associated actsSylk130, Fhloston Paradigm, Scuba
Websitekingbritt.com

Biography

Britt is a 1986 graduate of Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1987 he started working at Tower Records, as a buyer for the singles/import section. His extensive knowledge of dance music made him an in demand buyer in the company. He went on to make many connections in the music community, bringing in records and new labels from all over the world. King attended Temple University.

In 1990, King Britt began his first DJ residency at the Silk City in Philadelphia and the now defunct Revival. These two DJ residencies would help change the course of dance music in Philadelphia and lay the foundation for King's musical future. In collaboration with music partner Josh Wink, King also produced his first commercial release "Tribal Confusion" on dance label Strictly Rhythm. Their musical partnership continued until 2001.

In 1992 he started touring worldwide for the Grammy Award winning group Digable Planets for two years with a three-month opening slot with Sade. In 1994 Britt and Josh Wink started the label Ovum Recordings. Their first release was a collaboration between King and wordsmith/singer Ursula Rucker called Supernatural. The song went on to become a staple tune in the US rave scene and is revered as a classic in many countries. Ovum Recordings is still in operation but King resigned from his position in 2001.

In early 1998, under the name "Sylk130," King released the neo soul album When The Funk Hits the Fan on Ovum/Columbia Records.[2] This album went to sell over 500,000 copies worldwide and was scheduled to be re-released in 2012 as part of a box set collection for Sylk130. In a favorable review of the 1998 album When the Funk Hits the Fan, Billboard compared his sound to that of Soul II Soul and De La Soul.[3]

In 2001, Britt released Sylk130 Re-Member's Only, which features Alison Moyet, Martin Fry from ABC, Kathy Sledge, Grover Washington Jr, De La Soul and others. It was his last album for Ovum Recordings and Columbia Records as he began to pursue doing more production work.

King Britt released Adventures in Lo Fi on London's BBE label in 2003. Guests on the album included Madlib as Quasimoto, De La Soul, Dice Raw, Ivana Santilli and Butterfly from Digable Planets. He produced King Britt Presents: Sister Gertrude Morgan in 2005. A recreation of self-proclaimed bride of christ, Sister Gertrude's original Preservation Hall album gets new life. The record was included in the Michael Mann's 2006 film Miami Vice, on the AdBusters compilation, Live Without Dead Time and the HBO television show True Blood. Still continuing to DJ/produce, King changed his direction and began focusing on techno music and in 2006 released Interpretation under the moniker The Nova Dream Sequence. Released on Munich based label Compost, this record was praised by Derrick May and Carl Craig, including many of the songs in their sets. May also contributed to the liner notes.

King Britt won the Pew Fellowships in the Arts|Pew Fellowship in the Arts]] for composition in 2007.

King Britt and multimedia artists Rucyl, started the project 'Saturn Never Sleeps' in 2009. It is an electronic improvisational group as well as a label. They came together to curate an evening of music for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia to coincide with a Sun Ra exhibit, that was touring. They soon took the concept further, while they were residents at The Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia. Saturn Never Sleeps went on to become a band, label and is curated monthly in Philadelphia.

The Intricate Beauty by King Britt was released in 2010 on Nervous Recordings. Special guests included Lady Alma, RYAT and Astrid Suryanto, who sings on the club hit Now. Tim Conley aka MAST plays guitar on the title track "Intricate Beauty". King Britt also produced Canadian rock stars, Bedouin Soundclash on the album Light the Horizon.

King Britt has remixed musicians Tori Amos, Miles Davis, Saul Williams and Meredith Monk and Wendy & Lisa.

In 2014, he produced and composed The Phoenix by Fhloston Paradigm for the Hyperdub label. 2016 brought two album projects, Donna by Cassy and Pendulous Moon by the German singer, Clara Hill.

2017 saw the return of the Fhloston Paradigm project with an album After... It featured guest appearances by Nosaj Thing, Ryat, Jacqueline Constance, Moor Mother, Pia Ercole, Stephanie Yu, Alexa Barchini, Kate Faust, Petra, Puerto Rican Space Program and Tim Motzer. In 2017, he also contributed to Gonjasufi's album Mandela Effect.

Curatorial

In 2014, King curated a day at the MoMA PS1 called Moondance: A Night in the Afrofuture.[4] Since then, his curatorial pursuits have included a series of music inspired events for FringeArts in Philadelphia.[5]

Discography
  • 1998: When the Funk Hits the Fan
  • 2001: Re-Members Only
  • 2001: The Philadelphia Experiment Remixed
  • 2002: Hidden Treasures by Scuba
  • 2002: Black to the Future
  • 2002: "Cosmoafrique" by ObaFunke
  • 2003: Adventures In Lo-Fi (BBE Records)
  • 2005: Late Night with King Britt
  • 2005: King Britt Presents: Sister Gertrude Morgan
  • 2006: Nova Dream Sequence: Interpretations
  • 2007: Cosmic Lounge
  • 2007: This Is King Britt
  • 2009: Deep And Sexy 4
  • 2010: The Intricate Beauty
  • 2011: "Yesterday's Machine" by Saturn Never Sleeps
  • 2014: "The Phoenix" by Fhloston Paradigm
  • 2015: "Cosmosis #1" by Fhloston Paradigm
  • 2015: "Cosmosis #2" by Fhloston Paradigm
  • 2016: "Pendulous Moon" by Clara Hill
  • 2016: "Donna" by Cassy
  • 2016: "What Happened Was..."
  • 2017: "AFTER..." by Fhloston Paradigm

References
  1. AllMusic
  2. "CD REVIEWS: Eric's Trip, Corrosion Of Conformity, Arling & Cameron and many more". Chart Attack, August 07, 2001. Kori Golding.
  3. Verna, Paul (January 31, 1998). "King Britt Presents Sylk 130—When The Funk Hits The Fan", Billboard 110 (5): 24.
  4. "Moondance: A Night in the Afrofuture". tumblr.com.
  5. "Projects". Kingbritt.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
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